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Why does the Torah (תורה) say the purpose of the plagues is "so you shall tell your children...and then you will know I am Hashem (ה׳)"—shouldn't knowing come before telling? The shiur develops the principle that parents ultimately become what their children are, since children represent our continuity. When we guide our children onto the right path through sippur yetzias Mitzrayim, we inevitably follow that same path ourselves.
The shiur analyzes a fundamental question from the verse in Parshas Bo (Shemos 10:2) describing the purpose of the ten plagues: "lema'an tesaper be'oznei bincha uven bincha es asher hisalalti beMitzrayim ve'es ososi asher samti vam vidatem ki ani Hashem (ה׳)" - "so that you shall tell in the ears of your son and grandson how I toyed with the Egyptians and the signs that I brought against them, and then you will know that I am Hashem." The apparent difficulty is that the sequence seems backwards. Logically, one would expect that first the miracles and plagues would cause a person to know that Hashem is God, and then, as a result of that knowledge, the person would transmit this understanding to their children and grandchildren. However, the Torah (תורה) presents the opposite order: first you tell your children about what Hashem did in Egypt, and then—as a consequence of that telling—you yourself will come to know that Hashem is God.
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Shemos 10:2
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